TMS MONTE CARLO

April 17, 2005

Guillermo Coria

GUILLERMO CORIA: Well, I let the first set escape me, but the conditions were not favorable for me today because it was raining pretty hard and the balls were very heavy. I was not able to hurt him as much as I wanted to and as much as I did at the end. I was almost able to turn it around. I'm still very pleased with that match.

GUILLERMO CORIA: Yes, because I lost against the best player on clay, on this surface. I thought that if the match was going to go long enough, he might get tired, but he was able to run very well. Given my game on clay and given my tennis, my confidence is rising a lot. I believe that if I continue that way, I'll be all right for the French Open.

GUILLERMO CORIA: Every year is different. Today I finished the match playing as well as I was playing last year, I believe. Therefore, I feel ready to fight for my next tournaments, the next Masters Series and also in the French Open. I believe today I lost again to one of the favorites for the French Open, so this gives me confidence. Although I lost, I'm very pleased with my game today.

GUILLERMO CORIA: He was playing well in all parts of the game and I didn't know where to play. I saw he was standing very far back, so I was also thinking that the percentage of my dropshots were good. I won more points with that than I lost, so I thought it was favorable. I thought I would hurt him with that. But, anyway, I lost the finals of a Masters Series against a very good player.

GUILLERMO CORIA: Yes, because he's not as good at the net as he is from the baseline. As I said, I won more points with that than I lost. But we were running so much, I had to find a solution for that match. During the whole week, I felt good with my dropshots.

GUILLERMO CORIA: Today, no, I didn't see anything else because the conditions were very humid and the balls were very heavy. It was very difficult to win a point against him just leaving him far away from the ball. He played very well, and I was surprised how much he was able to run. He was very good physically. Also, he was having a lot of success and luck with his shots. Even at the net he was winning points against me, and he served well. What I wanted to do is bring him up to the net.